Understanding Continuous Diagnostics & Mitigation (CDM)

Cyberattacks on federal government networks are growing more sophisticated, frequent, and dynamic. The CDM program provides tools and services that enable federal and other government entities to strengthen the security posture of their cyber networks. The CDM program enables government entities to expand their continuous diagnostic capabilities by increasing their network sensor capacity, automating sensor collections, and prioritizing risk alerts.Read More Here

It’s not as if most government agencies don’t already have at least some IT security in place. However, depending on the time and resources each can devote, security can sometimes be more of a patchwork affair that provides uncertain protection. Will CDM change all that?Read More Here

The CDM program is intended to be a comprehensive push to move all of the federal government to continuous monitoring as the basis for agencies’ cybersecurity strategies, and through that to adopt risk-based mitigation practices. Implemented the right way, it will provide critical insight into how agency security systems and processes are working. Read More Here

CDM should put the relevance back into FISMA. Automated, near-real time scanning and validation of network and system security will accomplish many of the things FISMA was intended to deliver. It will also take much of the pain out of the manual, paper-based method of reporting FISMA since much of the information collected and fed to agency CDM dashboards, and on from there to the federal dashboard, will meet FISMA requirements. Read More Here

The CDM program is expected to take around five years to implement completely, with the ability to get a government-wide view of agency security status due by the end of FY 2017, when a federal dashboard should be up and running. Between now and then, the program will go forward in three separate phases, each one blending into the other. Read More Here